Stove creeping (?!?)

[Slow1]

Ok, I'm sure I'm not the first to experience this, but it is new to me. I've had the PH running now for somewhere close to 2 months. A couple weeks ago I looked at the stove and thought to myself "that stovepipe doesn't look exactly vertical, how strange". This morning I looked at it again and it is clearly not vertical and looking at the feet I can see based on the tiles of the hearthpad that the stove is no longer centered (left to right).

So - here I have a 700lb stove that seems to have somehow moved itself about an inch or so to one side. I don't see any marks on the hearthpad or anything. I didn't have time this morning to grab a level to see if the floor has a lean but I don't recall one before.

I didn't have this problem with the FV that sat on the same pad but I'm thinking that perhaps the feet may have been lined up right on the grout lines of the tile which may have helped keep it in place (?)

Anyway - so whatever the reason it clearly has moved. So anyone have a suggestion on how to resolve this? The tile is basic hard smooth tile. The legs are cast - I wonder if there is anything I could somehow put under the feet to keep them in place?

 

[begreen]

Any earthquakes recently? Check with a level for settling in that area.

 

[KaptJaq]

All stoves expand and contract as they heat and cool. If at least one pair of legs are in a grout line the stove will stay in place. If both pair are on very smooth tiles it is possible for the stove to creep. There have been recent articles on stones walking across a flat desert. As the sun heats them they expand. When they cool they contract. In this process they creep like a caterpillar. Same thing can be happening with your stove. Not sure how to stop it other than to say you have to increase the coefficient of friction on one or both sets of legs.

KaptJaq

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm going to vote you have a ghost.


Matt

 

[jmccabe]

We did have an earthquake not quite two months ago -- I think it originated in Maine. It was nothing like a west coast shake, but here just west of Boston it rumbled enough to wake the kids up and get my attention. I think it would have been enough to shift something a couple of inches.

 

[Waulie]

You could put a thin piece of brick or some other rough non-combustable under each leg. Other than that, IDK.

I've slid my stove out a couple times and it is surprising how easy it is to slide 700lbs on smooth tile.

 

[69911e]

Mine also moves. About 1/2" per year for 2 years now.
Must be due to the Coriolis effect, lunar pull, or space time curvature due to the experiments my kids are doing in the basement.

 

[weatherguy]

Any earthquakes recently? Check with a level for settling in that area.

Yes, there was an earthquake in southern Maine not far from the OP's area a day or two ago, that may have been the culprit.

 

[wkpoor]

My old Nashua would do the same thing. Had to straighten it a couple times a season. I attributed it to the thermal cycles changing the way it sat just enough to make it creep.

 

[Highbeam]

Not uncommon for stoves to walk.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I'm going to vote you have a ghost.


Matt

That is one strong ghost!

 

[BrowningBAR]

Not uncommon for stoves to walk.

I've heard this mentioned several times on this forum and I have never experienced it. Not that I want to. But, you would have thought with all the stoves I have in here, one of them would have moved on me.

 

[TradEddie]

Anything that heats and cools has the potential to walk due to repeated expansion and contraction. My old slammer insert needed a kick once or twice every season to keep it in place.

TE

 

[KaptJaq]

Anything that heats and cools has the potential to walk due to repeated expansion and contraction. My old slammer insert needed a kick once or twice every season to keep it in place.

TE

That was just the slammer coming to get you. Why do you think they are outlawed now! Glad you kept it in its place.

KaptJaq

 

[smokeater]

Good post.After twelve years of wood stove burning I never noticed the problem your talking about until this season,I noticed the stove pipe had moved so I marked the cement pad by the front legs and found the stove had indeed moved forward,

 

[eclecticcottage]

I wonder if that's how ours ended up out of level...hm. I just thought the original installers were yahoos (well, they were anyway). I'll have to check it again sometime when it's cool and see if it changed after it was put back to dead center when we had the flue cleaned.

 

[Slow1]

Thanks for the responses - I wasn't aware of the recent earthquake activity near here.

I will have to check to see how close to level it is sitting and see if that may help explain the movement. In any case next time it is cool I'm going to try and slide it back in place. If it is easy to do then I'll know it won't stay there unless I find a way to stick those feet down.

So far the only suggestion is to put some rough brick between feet and tile... I guess any sort of epoxy would be out as it would make it rather difficult to move for cleaning (in order to disconnect the pipes). I wonder what else may be good/safe to put under the feet to keep it from moving - too bad I can't just bolt it down, heh.

 

[clemsonfor]

could you put a piece of one of those silicone high temp cooking mats under the feet? Look like hell but i think thats non combustable and sure would create the friction between the 2 you would need to kep it there.

 

[Highbeam]

It's not going anywhere fast, just keep an eye on it and knock it back into place as needed. Mark the proper location of the feet and just make it one of your inspection chores. Just one of those things like dollar bill testing the gasket to see if it needs replacement.

 

[James02]

I swear I remember a post close to this in nature a few years back....Gotta chock the stove....Glad I have an insert...

 

[Paulywalnut]

I'm wondering if stove pipe location (top or rear) makes a difference?
My top install is so tight I can't imagine any movement.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We have to consider that this stove was installed somewhere around Halloween time....

I doubt it will move again Slow1 but stuff like this makes life interesting.

 

[brogsie]

I had the same thing happen. Fireview on smooth tile moved left. My stove pipe was out of plumb.
I assume it was from pushing the door shut, I just pushed it back into place.

 

[Slow1]

Ok - well I just checked with the level and the hearth pad is darn close to level, maybe just slightly off but not dramatically - the bubble edge is just slightly off center.

As to "just push it back" - uh, yeah - about that. I tried. And again. I think I need to lift a bit and likely a second pair of hands will help here - guess I'm less manly then the rest of you or something. I may have to put a mark on the pad where the feet are tonight and see if it moves more over the next week in any case....

 

[David Tackett]

funny thing, I was looking at mine today before I ever read this thread and thought "this stove have moved to the left, my stove pipe isn't straight any more". I thought I was crazy. Guess it is happening, or we are all crazy.